From Ash and Smoke
by oprime007
Summary: Overwatch, the organization formed to safeguard the world against the threat of the Omnic Crisis. Follow a member of this grand organization as he goes thru the traumatizing experience of Overwatch's fall and the turmoil of the world without its protectors. Disclaimer: Overwatch is the sol property of Blizzard entertainment, I and my coauthor own the OC's.
1. Chapter 1

**Ch. 1 Beginning of the End**

 **An:** Recently I've been playing a lot of a Overwatch and I've decided to start a story I've been thinking of. So, without further fanfare lets start the first chapter of this new story.

A gentle breeze wafted the smell of fresh bread and sweet flowers through the air of the busy streets of the city of Stockholm. On either sides of the street sat shops and the bustling morning crowd all cast in the shadow of a few large skyscrapers and bathed in warm spring sunlight.

An averagely built man in his late twenties wearing black steel rimmed glasses and wrapped in a white lab coat weaved his way towards the end of the street. In his arms he carried a bundle of rolled up documents that swayed dangerously on the verge of being dropped as the man almost sprinted down the street. Behind the man's glasses were a pair of gentle and warm clay colored eyes and his hair was short, dark brown, and well combed. His face had a few well-groomed whiskers sprouting from under his nose and on the point of his chin. Under his swishing white lab coat was a dark blue and black military style uniform with a badge of a stylized silver circle with two inwardly pointing prongs.

As the man rounded the bend in the central street he began to pick up his pace as he finally saw his destination in the distance. In the distance stood a large imposing compound of tall white and dark blue buildings surrounded by a perimeter wall and slightly outside the busy city center. Upon the face of the centermost building stood a large version of the symbol on the man's badge. Several dozen men and women patrolled the walls and gate in dark blue and gold combat armor. As the man reached the gate one of the guards approached him.

"Running a little late there aren't we Doc?" said the guard with a small good-natured chuckle. "I've never seen you run this late, you're always so punctual."

"Well there's a time for everything Mathew. I got stopped by a group of protestors on my way here." Said the man as he massaged the bridge of his nose and sighed in exasperation.

"You know there are bunks and living quarters in the Headquarters for a reason you know." Said the guard as he checked the man's ID and motioned for the gate to be opened. "You wouldn't have to deal with stuff like that if you just stayed at the base Doc, I worry about you every time I let you back out of these gates. These are some pretty bad times we're in." Continued the guard as his voice became solemn.

The man placed a reassuring hand upon the younger man's shoulder. "Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself." Said the man in a reassuring voice as he walked through the gate and into the compounds courtyard.

The courtyard was like a large garden with small fields of berry bushes, sweet smelling flowers and fruit trees. The smell of spring permeated the air and gave an aura or tranquility to the environment as several other men and women in white coats or blue and gold combat gear rested and walked leisurely around the courtyard. The man savored the atmosphere for only a few seconds before he walked thru the courtyard and entered into the building.

The main entrance way of the complex had a high ceiling and polished marble floors with flags and livery of every country in the world lining the walls alongside portraits of well-known agents and important figures. In the center of the hall was the most prominent feature. A large marble statue of the first strike team of Overwatch with a bronze plaque that read "The world could always use more heroes!".

The man smiled warmly up at the large marble statue. Every time he walked into the base he was greeted by those same words and the steadfast gaze of the six marble figures. Every time he saw the statue a feeling of overwhelming accomplishment warmed his heart, he was a part of that great legacy. It didn't matter what the world thought, he was a member of Overwatch and he was proud of all the good he was doing for humanity.

Suddenly as the man was about to move away from the statue and further into the compound a bright blue, brown and orange blur flashed directly in front of the man causing him to leap backwards in surprise and with a crash he fell to the ground and losing his glasses as papers and bundles of notes tumbled to the floor with him.

"Whoops, sorry luv!" chimed a young woman's voice with a small chuckle like the ring of a bell. "Sorry bout that, didn't see you there." Rubbing his bruised backside, the man picked up his dropped glasses and squinted up at the woman standing over him as she extended a hand to help him up.

The woman was young with wild chocolate brown hair and cheerful brown eyes with a series of small freckles across the bridge of her small nose. She wore an orange jumpsuit under a thick pilots jacket with the symbol of the Royal Airforce on the shoulder and a pair of track shoes. On her chest was a device with a large blue glowing front, the Chronal accelerator.

"What are you doing here Mrs. Oxton? I thought you were still in Nepal on leave." Said the man as he accepted the woman's hand and she pulled him to his feet and started to help him pick up his fallen papers.

"How many time have I gotta tell ya luv, call me Lena." She said as she gave the last paper to the man and crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks in a pout.

"Sorry Mrs. Oxto…. I mean, Lena." Said the man with a small chuckle as he held his papers close to him as to not drop them again. With a wide smile the cheerful British woman clapped excitedly and seized the man in a hug.

"It's been ages since last I saw ya luv. You've gained a right nice set of whiskers there haven't ya." Said the woman as she released the man from her hug and chuckled lightly. "What's all those papers for anyway?" She asked as she followed alongside the man as he began to continue walking thru the compound.

"They're documents and notes in preparation for the test run of the project I'm helping with." Said the man as the pair past by rooms filled with memorabilia and artifacts from the Omnic crisis and other well-known Overwatch missions. "We're beginning the final testing of the new power armor we've designed."

"Who else is workin wich'ya?" Asked Lena curiously as she continued to follow close alongside her friend.

"I'm working with Maximilian and Eckhardt, you remember them both don't you?" Said the man as he adjusted his glasses slightly. Lena rubbed her chin in thought as she walked and then finally her eyes widened and she gazed excitedly at the man beside her.

"Your workin with your old mate and your adopted father aren't ya. Well then I'm sure the test will come out just spiffy. Maybe ya can show me the project when its right as rain. See ya later then Johnny boy." With that said the young woman sprinted off in a flash of blue light with the sound of her chime like laugh following her.

The man smiled warmly as he watched her leave and chuckled slightly. "It's been too long since I've heard that nickname." He thought as he reminisced about some of the older days before Lena's accident when he was a field agent. Suddenly he shook his head and set his face into one of determination. "Today's the day we make history." He said to himself in a determined voice as he reached a circular sealed door into the science wing.

Placing one of his hands awkwardly on the scan pad he stepped back as the large sealed metal door hissed and opened. Stepping over the threshold the man walked down a long white metal hallway past several other sealed doors until he finally reached his destination and opened the door and stepped in.

The lab he and his partners worked was a large white metal room filled with several powerful, state of the art computers and other technical marvels used to fabricate the materials needed. The room was sectioned off into three areas each designated for the three individual parts of the project. One corner had many fabrication devices and a large set of sculpted and unadorned grey power armor resting on an armor stand. Another section of the room had a large chemical station and a streamlined a weapon similar to a rifle but with a large power pack attached by a long black cord. Finally, the last section was his own. The section was the smallest and had a large computer and fabrication station with algorithms and data running constantly. His two colleagues where already present and working on a last few tweaks to their parts of the project.

His colleague and friend since college Maximilian was heatedly at work measuring out and polishing up the chemical assets of his part of the project, the weapon systems. He was a thin man in his late twenty's with dark blue eyes and black hair that was combed into a divide and brushed behind his ears. He wore a royal blue button up shirt with a black and blue striped tie with a pair of black slacks, shoes and belt under a neatly buttoned lab coat. Upon his breast he wore his I.D. card that proudly displayed his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Science, and an MS in Theoretical Physics.

His second colleague Eckhardt Elsner was a former member of the Crusader order from Germany and now a professional and innovative German engineer and armor technician. He had short and wild silvery blonde hair almost white with age and stern sky blue eyes with a long jagged white scar across his right eye. He was a huge bear of a man with a broad and muscular physique like the chiseled form of an ancient blacksmith. He was currently adding a few final touches to his "Vonderful Master piece" as he called it.

"John! Vhere have you been all zis time? Ve vere vorried sick." Shouted the large bear of a man in his thick German accent as he leaped from his work and bounded across the room with the athleticism of a much younger man. As he reached his adopted son he wrapped him in a deep bone crushing hug and easily lifted him several inches off the ground.

"I…can't…. breathe!" Wheezed John as he felt and almost heard his ribs cracking from the strain. The older man immediately let go and the John leaned over and coughed as he fought to regain his breath. "I got stopped by a group of protestors on my way here." Said John finally after he had regained his breath.

"John." Said the older man in a worried voice. "You know it's dangerous to regularly commute to ze base every day. Who knows vhat could happen if zoe's protestors start to become violent. Vhen I adopted you I promised you fazer zat I vould protect you." Said the old man seriously.

"I know, it's just, ever since the war I can't live in a place always around soldiers. You know what happened on my seventh birthday." Said John sadly as he sat down on one of the rooms many chairs.

The older man gazed with a saddened and knowing look at the adopted son of his fallen friend. "I know John. I vas there vith you and you fazer on zat terrible day. I know your fazer would be proud of vhat you've accomplished. I only vish he could have lived to see what you've become." Said the old man as he gave the younger man a much gentler hug.

"Not wanting to break up a tender moment or anything but we've got a really important test to run here." Said Maximilian as he finally moved away from the weapon he created for the armor.

"Let's do this!" Said John as he rushed over to his station with his colleagues hot on his heels. As he sat down his colleagues stood behind him as they watched the armor get transported to the testing room and become visible on the visual feed. "Artemis, Initiate Nano-droid integration." Said John as his fingers flew across the keyboard.

"Acknowledged." Responded a smooth robotic female voice. As what looked like electricity encased and started to fuse with the metal. "Nano Machine integration at 20%!"

"Vith zese fancy Nano-droids ze armor vill be even more powerful. You've really out done your self zis time my boy!" Said Eckhardt with a bear like laugh as he patted his adopted son on the shoulder approvingly. As the three started to celebrate what looked to be a breakthrough they felt a shockwave shake the walls around them as dust rained from the ceiling.

"Artemis, What's going on!" Shouted John. As if to answer his question the robotic female voice of the main Overwatch AI Athena Spoke over the intercom.

"Attention all Overwatch personnel, the base is under attack. I repeat, the base is under attack. All Military assets are to prepare to protect against intruders. All Science and medical staff are to lock down and wait for further orders. This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!"

The three men looked to each other and exchanged a look of worry and dread. "Ugh, brilliant. I suppose that someone would have attacked us eventually." Said Maximilian.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2 "Blood and Betrayal"**

Mathew sighed heavily as he leaned against the concrete frame of the gate and gazed up at the clear blue spring sky. He found himself in this same position almost every day when he was on guard duty. He had found that in the dull midday just gazing up at the sky, watching the clouds whisk in and out of the tall skyscrapers was very relaxing. Today was no different, as he watched the few fluffy clouds meander lazily around the bright blue sky, he felt at ease.

His relaxation was cut short however as a group of five transports with the symbol of Overwatch began to approach the gate and halted as requested. Heaving himself off the wall and slinging his rifle over his shoulder Mathew proceeded to the driver's side window of the lead vehicle. The bulletproof window rolled down to reveal a man wearing the combat armor and livery of Overwatch. The driver handed Mathew a set of permits. Before Mathew truly looked at the permits he noticed something…off about the driver. The man's helmet obscured his entre face and didn't have the normal transparent face shield.

"Sir, if you would please remove your helmet. I need to confirm your identity before I can open the gate." Said Mathew as calmly as he could. In response the man nodded and began to raise his hands to detach his helmet.

Suddenly Mathew felt a sudden jarring pain in his side. Looking down he saw a red stain begin to slowly spread across the left breast of his uniform. Turning his head slowly he saw that a handful of the other guards both on the wall and near the door had shot their comrades with silenced weapons. Mathew dropped the papers in his hands as he clutched at the wound in his side and fell to his knees coughing up blood. "Traitors!" He coughed weakly before he slumped to the ground as a small pool of blood began to form.

As he lay dying on the pavement Mathew watched helplessly as the traitors cleared the bodies and opened the gate into the compound. "I…have…to…warn them!" He thought desperately as with the last ounce of his strength he began to reach for his comlink. As he slowly brought the small device up to his face one of the traitors kicked it out of his hands and smashed it under his boot.

"We can't have you ruining the plan now can we?" Said the traitor. "Face it rookie, you picked the wrong side." Continued the man as he pointed his pistol at Mathew's head and pulled the trigger with a silent click.

As the gate fully opened the five transports drove into the compound. As the gate closed the vehicles parked in a line with the back ends of the cars pointed towards the garden and the main door. The scientists, medical staff and guards in the garden and near the door stopped what they were doing and looked confusedly at the cars. As they watched the transport doors opened and a maelstrom of bullets flew from the open compartments. The men and women in the garden didn't even have a chance to scream as they were ripped apart into clouds of blood and ripped clothing by the storm of shrapnel. The few guards that survived began to return fire from behind pockmarked pillars and the broken trunks of trees in a vain attempt at taking out the gunners.

From inside the bowels of the transports emerged dozens of squads of men and women in black combat armor with white skull like masks. Several of the black armored soldiers died as they were caught in the return fire of the handful of Overwatch agents but in vain. The few remaining agents were quickly overwhelmed. With the garden cleared the soldiers in black arranged themselves to breach the main door. A group of them advanced towards the door with a set of explosives and attached them to the door before hurriedly retreating to the sides.

"Hurry we don't have much time!" Shouted an Overwatch agent as he and a large group of other agents and guards rushed to the main door. As they reached it they saw several other groups of agents hurriedly throwing up deployable barricades and preparing to mount a defensive. "How close are they to opening the door?" Asked the man.

"They'll be through the door in less than four minutes' sir!" Replied a security guard from a side room off the main entrance corridor. The room held the monitors of many of the outdoor security feeds and the man's face was gaunt with fear and he looked sick. "Those bastards just killed them…they killed everyone!" Said the guard feebly as he stared blankly at the monitors.

"Pull yourself together soldier!" Shouted a scar faced and seasoned Officer as he crouched behind one of the curved deployable barriers. "We've got a job to do, there's no wimping out now."

Suddenly a large explosion shook the building and the main door bent inwards on itself but still held true. A collective intake of breath surged through the waiting agents and guards as Athena's alert was heard over the intercom. The defenders tensed as they readied their rifles and pistols as they waited for the breach. The silence became long and as thick as concrete as the defenders held their breath. A Second larger detonation shook the building and the doors once again held firm with several large cracks beginning to become visible.

"This is it; this is where we hold them. Stand firm and remember your training and we'll all get through this alive. Overwatch won't fall today if we have anything to say about it!" Said the scar faced officer from before. The other agents and guards nodded in agreement with set and determined faces. As they watched sparks began to spew forth from a central point on the door and began to get brighter and more violent.

"HERE THEY COME!" Shouted one of the guards as the main door exploded open with the force of a crashing airliner, sending shrapnel and smoke everywhere. The guards and agents covered their head from the rain of debris as with a roar countless forms of black armored soldiers flooded through the breach with a storm of bullets leading the way. White hot bullets ricochet off the marble floors and pillars as the members of Overwatch returned fire. Black armored soldiers and Overwatch agents danced in place as their bodies were riddled with bullets as the firefight escalated. A group of Overwatch agents screamed as a grenade fell behind their cover and reduced them to bloody paste.

"Concentrate fire on the left!" Shouted an agent as he peaked over cover to unload half the clip of his pistol into a group of black armored figures. The guard beside him fell to ground and convulsed as his chest was turned into a mass of shattered bone and torn meat. "Damnit, You bastards!" Shouted the agent as he resumed firing only to have a bullet rip clean thru his forehead sending his body reeling backwards onto his fallen comrade.

"Fall back! Fall back! There's too many AHhhhggggh…" Shouted another agent as a bullet ripped thru his gut and sent him careening to the floor in a pool of blood.

"Where's our reinforcements?" Shouted a Guard officer as he ducked behind cover to reload. "They should've gotten here by now!" Almost as if on cue a group of Overwatch Agent appeared from deeper in the compound and started to rush towards the firefight.

"We're saved! Reinforcements are here! Come on let's teach these bastards!" Shouted the scar faced officer. With a resounding roar the remaining defenders began to fight with renewed vigor. As the fighting renewed it seemed for a moment that the defenders would turn the tide. As the defenders thought that victory was in their grasp several of their agents fell to gunfire from the rear. The advancing Agents thought to be their needed reinforcements were shooting at them. Turning around to face the new threat they stood no chance, caught between two attacking forces.

Only a small handful of Agents and guards remained as they took cover between a pair of barricades under the shadow of the six statues. The once pristine marble floor was now singed black from explosions and stained crimson with blood. The once finely woven flags reduced to mere tattered fabric and the walls and floor were now riddled with bullet holes.

"This is the end Captain." Said one of the remaining guards as he crouched to reload.

"We've got to keep fighting! The others have to have time to prepare a better defensive. Fight! Fight to the last man!" Shouted the scar faced officer as he lobbed a grenade into a group of attackers and obliterated them. Steadying his rifle on the deployable barricades he gunned down several more assailants before retreating back to escape a return volley. Before he could fire off another volley an explosion blasted away the barricades and remaining agents.

As the last of the agents were killed a tall man in a black trench coat walked slowly through the blasted entrance way with a large group of black armored soldiers following closely behind him. The man wore a set of black combat armor under the shadowy cloak. He wore a pair of black combat pants with thick armored shin guards and combat boot. Across the man's chest and along his left hip hung bandleaders of extra shotgun shells and grenades as well as a pulled down hood behind his neck. The man's face was scarred and rough with short dark brown hair and goatee.

"Commander Reyes, the agents have been disposed of!" Reported one of the soldiers as he hurriedly snapped to attention as the man approached.

"Good work." Replied the man in a voice as rough as sandpaper. "Go through the rest of the compound and retrieve anything that might be useful. Leave no one alive."

"YES SIR!" Shouted the black armored soldiers as the split off into squads and dispersed through the compound.

The man stood there surrounded by the stench off death and relished in it. As he relished an early victory one of the "corpses" raised a pistol to try to shoot the man. With inhuman speed and agility, the man smacked the pistol away and grabbed the wounded man by the throat and pulled him to eye level.

"It seems my men missed a helpless flea during extermination. Tell me, where is Jack Morrison?" Sad the man in his rough voice.

"I…don't…talk…to…traitorous…scum!" Choked the man as he struggled in vain against the man's iron grip.

Commander Reyes sighed heavily and shook his head. "How pathetically loyal." He said as he easily snapped the man's neck and dropped his limp corpse to the ground. Reyes reached his hands into the sides of his coat and pulled from the depths a pair of long shot guns. "I guess if you've got to do something, you've got to do it yourself." He said casually as he began to walk slowly towards the sounds of far off fighting.

 **AN:** Well there's the next chapter of my Overwatch story and as always

I will see

 **YOU**

in the next chapter

 **BYE BYE**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ch.3 The Fall**

 **AN:** Hey guys and gales, sorry for the long wait for uploads but I've been really busy as of late what with exams and projects but i promise withing the next week ill be updating Tale of Two Hollows so stay tuned for that. Anyhow, lets get right into the next chapter of From Ash and Smoke.

"Ugh, brilliant. I suppose that someone would have attacked us eventually." Said Maximilian angrily.

"Artemis, initiate lock down protocols!" Shouted John as he began to frantically upload all their project files into a strange spherical device. As he typed the electricity like energy molding with the power armor stopped and the armor exited the testing room.

"Already on it boss." Replied the female AI as a set of thick, metal doors sealed shut behind the closed laboratory door.

"If these bastards vant a fight I'll give them one!" Shouted Eckhardt as he marched over to the prototype armor. As he reached the armor he unlatched the pieces from their shackles and began to don the armor. Eckhardt looked impressive encased in the armor he designed, with its sloped pauldrons and slanted vambraces. Eckhardt sighed as he remembered pleasant memories. "It has been too long since I have vorn armor as magnificent as this."

Maximilian walked over to his section of the laboratory and retrieved the large prototype weapon. "I guess this is a good a time as any to test out the weapon systems." He said with a displeased sigh. Strapping the large power pack to his back he flicked a switch upon the handle of the gun and a high pitched whirring sound could be heard. As the power pack started up the gas within the gun began to glow a blindingly bright blue color as the gas was super-heated into its plasma state.

"Boss, you aren't gonna like what's coming down the hall." Said Artemis as a video feed appeared on the view screen. The three men looked at the screen as several squads of soldiers in black armor marched down the hallway breaking into each room. The three stared in horror as they heard screams and gun shots come from the rooms the soldiers entered and pools of blood seep out the doorways.

Maximilian and John both heard a low growl come from behind them and turned to see an extremely frightening sight. Eckhardt was fuming, his armored fists were clenched in rage and his face contorted in fury. What truly scared the two was the old man's eyes, his eyes burned with such furious intensity it was as if the pair were staring into one of the levels of hell.

"Those covardly bastards!" Said the old man with gritted teeth. Without another word Eckhardt marched to his area of the lab were his weapons locker was located. After entering his code, the locker door swung open to reveal Eckhardt's pride and joy, his war axe. With a terrifying look of hateful zeal, the old man took up his old weapon and gave it a test swing. He gazed fondly at the old weapon as he thumbed on the weapons power and listened as the thruster's hummed to life. "John vhat are you vaiting for? Our enemy's shall be at our door vithin moments! Arm yourself!" Said the old warrior as he hefted his weapon over his shoulder.

As the download of their project files finished downloading John retrieved the sphere. "Alright." He said as he ran over to his locker and entered his code. From inside his locker he retrieved a picture a strange spherical device and a slim looking rifle. Folding the picture and inserting it into his shirt pocket John slung the rifle across his back and approached Artemis's main computer. As he reached the main computer he removed a chip from the computer and inserted it into the spherical device which began to glow a pale green color.

"You know I hate it when you remove me and place me in this damn thing." Said an aggravated Artemis from inside the sphere, which turned out to be her mobile transport unit as well as a storage device. "You promised a body for me, I hate this thing."

"Sorry, I haven't gotten to finishing that body you wanted, I'll finish it if we get out of this, until then this is what we've got." Said John almost apologetically as he pocketed the sphere and placed a fresh magazine into his rifle.

Eckhardt walked over to the two younger men and leaned his axe against a nearby wall and held them both in a gentle hug. "Vhatever happens know that I have come to love both of you as if you vere my sons." Said the old man as his eyes began to tear up. "You have both made me very proud to be your guardian." Letting the two young men go the old warrior retrieved his weapon and held it out parallel to the floor. Maximilian and John shared a brief look before each grabbed hold of the weapons hilt on either side of Eckhardt's gauntleted hand. The three bowed their heads in reverence and the old man began to whisper a warrior's blessing from his time in the Crusaders as voices could be heard from the other side of the sealed door.

"Today oh lord, we fight for those we love. May our aim be true, our strikes swift and clean, our minds sharp and our armor thick. If death take me today may you protect those I leave, let them find peace in my passing and help them to move on. This, I pray to you lord as a warrior" Said the three men as a pair of cutting torches burned their way through the thick metal doors. As they finished their prayer Eckhardt positioned himself in front with Maximilian directly to his side behind an overturned table with his plasma cannon perched on top and John crouched on his other side behind more cover. Eckhardt activated his armors shield barrier which unlike the one he used to have covered his armor like a skin tight shell.

Soon the torches receded from the door followed by a tense moment of silence. John wiped a few droplets of sweat from his brow and gazed steadily down his iron sights. With the force of a small bomb the cut out section of the door came crashing to the floor as several black armored soldiers barged into the room. With a roar, Eckhardt Slashed his axe upwards in a cleaving motion and sent a flaming projectile from his axe into the crowd of black armored soldiers. With a horrifying scream, several of the soldiers cried out in pain as they were set ablaze. Over the screams a low humming noise could be heard, suddenly a load crack split the air as a lance of bright blue plasma cam hurtling from the end of Maximillian's weapon. The beam of super heated plasma spelled the doom of several more soldiers as it burned through metal, flesh and bone as if they were tissue paper. Bullets screeched and whined as they flew haphazardly through the air. The soldiers having learned from their mistake now huddled behind the little cover they could find. Every now and then one of the soldiers would get cocky and poke his head out too far, only to have it jerk back as a bullet from John's rifle would bore into their brain.

"Eat this Overwatch scum!" Shouted one of the soldiers as he jumped out of cover and fired a rocket at where John was crouched behind cover reloading. Johns eyes widened in fear as he looked around his cover to see the rocket hurtling towards him.

With a roar Eckhardt lunged between John and the rocket. With a blast of bright light and a shattering sound Eckhardt's Shield shattered like glass as it absorbed the rockets blast. Eckhardt grunted as bullets ricocheted off his thick armor as he shielded John with his body.

"Eckhardt! John!" Shouted Maximilian as he fired blast after blast of super heated plasma into the advancing soldiers. He watched helplessly as Eckhardt's armor was pierced in several places under the constant barrage of bullets.

Eckhardt looked through his helmets visor at Johns unconscious form shielded by his wide armored frame. The old man sighed with relief that he wasn't badly hurt. Eckhardt teeth gritted in pain behind his helm as he felt a bullet pierce his left pauldrons and bite deep into his shoulder. He saw several more soldiers advancing towards Maximilian, firing almost endless salvos of bullets and slowly chewing away at Maximillian's cover. The old man new what had to be done.

With a roar a large hidden thruster on the back of the old man's armor fired up and sent him hurtling towards the black armored soldiers like a speeding train. With a surprised yell, several of the soldiers tried desperately to get out of his way. With an earth shattering crash Eckhardt's large armored form smashed into the crowd of soldiers and sent several of them flying like pin balls. One unlucky soldier got caught directly in Eckhardt's path and was turned into bloody paste upon the opposite wall.

With the attention of the soldiers diverted Maximilian took the chance to fire blast after blast of plasma at the dazed soldiers. Eckhardt slashed and jabbed his axe at the downed soldiers without mercy and soon the last soldier fell to their combined assault.

"John!" Shouted Maximilian dropping his cannon and running over to his downed friend. As he reached him he dropped to his knees and razed Johns head. As Maximilian raised Johns head he saw John's eyes flutter and begin to open.

"What did I miss?" Said John as he looked blearily around with a hand to the side of his head. With Maximillian's help John was back on his feet in seconds. As soon as John was up and walking the pair then rushed over to Eckhardt who was on one knee in the center of the carnage.

"More of them vill be here soon, ve should get moving." Grunted Eckhardt in a low pained voice. His armor was drenched in dark crimson blood and was pockmarked by bullet holes and cracks. As the pair watched the armor began to glow with a pale blue electric aura as the nanite mesh activated. Slowly, before their very eyes the armor began to mend itself and Eckhardt's slow pained breathing began to ease as the nanites went to work healing him as well. After a few moments Eckhardt gazed down at his arm and flexed what had at the end of the battle been a shattered shoulder with perfect ease. "This…This is amazing my boy. This new armor vill save countless lives." Said Eckhardt with profound astonishment.

"Boss, sorry to interrupt the celebration but I'm tracking several hostiles converging on this area!" Said Artemis from her sphere. "I apologize for being the one to quote obvious facts, but we should probably evacuate as quickly as possible. Just saying."

"Artemis is right Overvatch has been compromised ve should make our vay to one of the transports and go into hiding." Said Eckhardt to nods of approval from Maximilian and John.

After retrieving some supplies from their lockers, the trio advanced into the science wings hallway with Eckhardt protecting the rear, John holding the middle and Maximilian on point. As they reached the end door they saw the doorway to the science wing had been cut open. Through the opening they saw the carnage aftermath of the destroyed main hall and the devastated courtyard beyond. "My God!" Said the trio at the same time as they gazed at the devastation.

"Come on, let's get out of here. There's nothing ve can do." Said Eckhardt solemnly. As the trio was about to pass through the doorway they felt the ground beneath them rumble. "Vhat vas that?" Asked Eckhardt as he tightened his grip on his war axe. After a few seconds, another rumble shook the building accompanied by the sound of a far-off explosion.

"That's coming from the power wing, that's where the generators are." Said John as his eyes became wide with fear. The trio began to run flat out towards the science wing entrance. As they were about to reach the entrance a third rumble shook the building, shaking the very building to its core followed by a torrent of flame from a massive explosion. Debris rained from the ceiling as the Overwatch headquarters began to fall apart at the seams. With fear in their eyes the trio continued to run, Maximilian being the first to reach the door.

"Come on hurry!" Maximilian shouted, but as he passed the threshold a fourth massive explosion racked the crumbling building once more igniting everything in flame and sending the ceiling of the headquarters crashing down sending Maximilian flying backwards into suffocating darkness as his vision blurred and his breathing slowed; the last thing he could hear were muffled screams.

 **AN:** And that is the end of the third chapter of From Ash and Smoke.

As always

I will see

 **YOU**

In the next chapter

 **BYE BYE**


End file.
